Things To Consider When Buying Land

In 1993, I was recently divorced and broke but the homing instinct was strong, so I kept searching for land to build a homestead.  My companion found a listing for 24 well-endowed acres next to a small dairy farm, 20 miles from a university town.  The owner had lots of land and debts to pay so he financed the 24 acres for $2,000 an acre with 20K down. We borrowed the 20K down payment from our parents. and I later built a tiny straw bale house, now much improved, with credit cards.   While deals like this may be gone, there are still many thousands of acres of raw land out there and you can get yours if you are relentless and creative.

I am wed to my land and building a comfortable sanctuary upon it has been  my life project. I have been rewarded with a deep connection with nature, privacy, security, comfort, sustenance, and priceless peace of mind.  It is only by grace that I still have it. At one point, amidst a tortured relationship, I almost sold it. The prospect made me ill. Here are my tips for finding a special piece of land to build your life on.

Not all areas are equally blessed with vibrant economies, proximity to family, cultural attractions, affordable home prices, aligned politics, livable climates, intellectual stimulation, clean air, recreational areas, good schools, airports, good roads, low taxes, good medical facilities and hospitable neighbors. Nor are they equally cursed by earthquakes, floods, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, pests, droughts, polluting industries, and nuclear power plants. I am grateful to my younger self for nailing a great spot in central North Carolina (although we are 39 miles from a nuclear plant).  It is lush and green with four seasons, rolling hills and scenic drives to everywhere. The economy is vibrant. Popular as it is, multinational development companies have arrived, people are pouring in, and there is enormous clear-cut development popping up everywhere.  We are only 15-20 miles from 5 cities and 7 miles from Saxapahaw (shhhh) a hip village on a river with most everything we might need – a concert hall, two restaurants, a grocery store, coffee shop, kayaking, charter school, butcher, clothing store and other shops, gas station and post office, trails running along a river and  outdoor concerts on a lawn. We do most of our socializing in Pittsboro, 30 minutes to the South, where lives our tribe and I am the general contractor for a visionary couple that own a unique 17-acre party zone with entertainment, food and beverages.  It’s a great life. We have our peace and our fun.

Once you’ve matched your big-ticket wish list against the regional offerings, and hopefully visited your preferences a time or two, you might be ready to hunt for your own perfect homestead – with or without a house on it pending your circumstances. Often, it makes sense to rent first and then go hunting.  I’ve helped friends (from cities) find land and most don’t know how to recognize good land from bad.  You might get some help making that critical life decision. 

Even within the relatively small area we were living (Chapel Hill and surrounds) it took a while to find the right parcel. Most were too pricey, too far out of town, downwind from something unpleasant, too close to tacky developments, too small, too large, too prone to flooding or too close to neighbors. The right location at the right price was not decisive. The land had to be special, something I could cherish.  I was going to be spending a major chunk of my life force sculpting it and I might die there. You can feel it when you walk it.

We have a very long growing season here. We do not have many mosquitoes because we are surrounded by healthy forest with bats.  It is very hot and humid between 11 am and 6 pm from early June to late August but it cools down at night. During those months we work outdoors 630 – 1030 AM and 6-830 PM. Otherwise, it’s pleasant the rest of the year. Because it still gets freezing cold in the winters for at least a week or two we still don’t have as many pests as tropical climates.

We get enough rain. We have no earthquakes, we do have hurricanes, but we are 200 miles inland and they are never more than class 1 or 2.  We have the occasional tornado but not like tornado alley. We have droughts but not like many other places. There are floods but only in areas around rivers and streams.  Traffic is coming but there’s still not much around us.

We finally found our special spot next door to the small dairy farm gambling that our elevation and westerly offset would eliminate odors.  We were right.

Here’s what made it great.

It was almost half a mile off the road.  We could not hear much road traffic. It was surrounded by large parcels with just a few well maintained houses on them.  We guessed correctly those parcels wouldn’t be subdivided anytime soon.   The land had the right mix of forest and open space – about half and half and after giving 12 acres to my ex, we were left with two acres of open space to ten forested. Two acres of open space is all you need to build your compound with solar and gardens and fruit and nut trees and ten acres of forest is about right to surround you with nature, trails and privacy. You don’t want to be cutting a lot of grass.  What happens on the land around you can make or break you r peace of mind and every acre you own is more taxes and maintenance. For me, 12 acres is perfect.  32 years later we enjoy the same privacy we had on day one. 

Not all forested land is equal. Being recently cut or low lying, some has scrub brush, invasives and ticks. The most desirable land has matured hardwoods which provide for biodiversity, usable timber, and firewood.   Our hardwood forest was clearcut 100 years ago and has grown back. The canopy shades out the underbrush you find on many parcels. You can see deep through the woods and there are deer, coyotes, fox, bobcat, hawks and owls. Ideally, you want to be surrounded by the larger forest required by many dwindling species.

If there is open space in the right places you won’t need to clear to build, install a driveway, put up solar, farm or garden, that’s a big savings. 

Not all soil is created equal. Some perks (for septic) like hell and some doesn’t perk at all. Perk sites for septic are important and impact the value and possible future sale or rental opportunities.  Some soil is rocky, and some isn’t. Ours is Georgian Loam. Anything will grow in it  and there are few rocks. The soil dictates effort you will expend for food and animal production, pond viability, foundation construction et al..  We had great soil.

Ponds are great assets on a homestead. They typically require 5-20 times as much surface area per surface acre of pond.  We have about 3 acres flowing into our 1/8 acre pond.   It often overflows. We built it deep to keep the 50 stocked catfish happy, run an aerating fountain and swim in it. It’s a great meditative space. It attracts heron, king fisher and other water birds as well as deer and other animals. It makes you feel good to enrich the land with impounded water. If all hell breaks loose and your backup power plans fail, you can always filter the water and drink it. We have a seasonal stream on the property only. Year-round clear running streams are a huge asset especially if they have enough vertical drop to run micro hydro – which can generate 24 hour power at a fraction of the cost of solar.

Hills make good home locations for several reasons but not necessarily at the very top where tornados are more likely to touch down. We are at 720 feet elevation. The air is sweeter here than down at the road, and slight breezes come up the hill to passively ventilate the house.  Rolling hills are aesthetically pleasing and from one spot on our property we can see for 40 miles.  We are protected to the west (upwind) by another hill. It is owned by the national guard and won’t be developed. I could be wrong, but I believe this hill deflected two small tornadoes (in 35 years) over the top of us which  land further down the road.  You want to pay special attention to land features and activity upwind from you. Here it blows in from the southwest 80% of the time and we have nothing to worry about in that direction except for a gravel mine that was built three miles away over strong community objections.   It hasn’t affected us much, but it is an example of why you can rarely if ever completely protect yourself. 

An often overlooked asset or liability that will affect you over the years is the quality, quantity, and depth of ground water beneath you.  It is hard to determine before you buy because you have to drill a well to determine it. You can learn some things from neighbors but the quality can differ greatly over ¼ mile.  Our groundwater is ideal. A douser told us where to drill and we hit 25 gallons per minute. Our “static water level” is only 70 feet but we drilled another 150 feet to fill the well casing with sufficient water to draw upon. The water comes up through limestone which purifies it. There are some dissolved minerals but not enough to affect appliances or leave rings in toilets.  We can run a hose for weeks straight if we want to and sometimes we do such as when we filled our natural pool the first time.

If you have less than 10 gallons per minute you could be constricted during peak demand.  Wells commonly go 300 or 400 feet deep which raises costs to drill and operate. Some folks in our area have poor tasting water because hydrogen sulfide has leached into the groundwater from old dairy operations. Others have minerals that form scale. These situations require filtration and maintenance. 

Good luck finding your piece of land and give me a shout if you need some advice.